Gary Thomas
Encyclopedia
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
from Baltimore, Maryland. He is a member of Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
's Special Edition band and has worked with John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
, Jim Hall
Jim Hall
Jim Hall is the name of:* Jim Hall , jazz guitarist and composer* Jim Hall , Australian boxer in the late 19th century* Jim Hall , race car driver and founder of Chaparral Cars...
, Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
, Greg Osby
Greg Osby
Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....
, Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
, Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney is an American hard bop and post-bop trumpeter.Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from 1985 until the latter's death in 1991...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
, as well as numerous other premier jazz musicians. He currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
As leader
- The Seventh Quadrant (1987)
- Code Violations (1988)
- By Any Means Necessary (1989, with John ScofieldJohn ScofieldJohn Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
, Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
) - While The Gate Is Open (1990)
- The Kold Kage (1991)
- Till We Have Faces (1992, with Pat MethenyPat MethenyPatrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, Preis der Deutschen SchallplattenkritikPreis der deutschen SchallplattenkritikThe Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik is an annual prize presented for achievement in recorded music.It was inaugurated in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of recognizing the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement" in the field of recording.The awards...
1993) - Exile's Gate (1993)
- Overkill (1995)
- Found On Sordid Streets (1997)
- Pariah's Pariah (1998)
As sideman
With Jack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
- Irresistible ForcesIrresistible ForcesIrresistible Forces is an album by Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition, featuring Greg Osby, Gary Thomas, Mick Goodrick, Lonnie Plaxico and Naná Vasconcelos, recorded in 1987 and released on the MCA label...
(MCA, 1987) - Audio Visualscapes (1988)
With Greg Osby
Greg Osby
Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
- The Invisible Hand (Blue Note, 1999)
With Tony Reedus
Tony Reedus
Tony Reedus was an American jazz drummer.Reedus first gained notice playing in Woody Shaw's band in the 1980s...
- Incognito (1989)
With Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney
Wallace Roney is an American hard bop and post-bop trumpeter.Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis from 1985 until the latter's death in 1991...
- Verses (1987)
- Intuition (1988)
- The Standard Bearer (1989)
- Obsession (1990)
With Lonnie Plaxico
Lonnie Plaxico
Lonnie Plaxico is an African American jazz bassist.Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen...
- So Alive (2004)
- West Side Stories (2006)
With Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington is a jazz drummer, composer, record producer and entrepreneur. She has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many more...
- Jazz is a Spirit (2002)
With Ingrid Jensen
Ingrid Jensen
Ingrid Jensen is a Canadian jazz trumpet player.Jensen is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and Malaspina University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She has been nominated for several Juno awards, winning one with her first release, Vernal Fields...
- Higher Grounds (1999)
With Peter Herborn
- Traces of Trane (1992)
- Large One (1997)
- Large Two (2002)